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Regeneration company Urban Splash has made an £18million profit just six years after posting heavy losses and restructuring the business - and has confirmed exciting plans for Plymouth's historic Royal William Yard.

The Manchester-headquartered company, now in its 25th year, has revealed a profit of £18.1million for the year to the end of September 2018 which it mainly put down to a revaluation of commercial properties.

The continued surpluses represent a sustained improvement for Urban Splash after it posted heavy losses just six years ago and company chairman and founder Tom Bloxham was delighted with the best set of results since the group’s restructure in 2013.

The idea is to create three screening rooms in a 9,000sq ft unit within the Grade I listed block, which overlooks the Marina at the heart of the yard.Other operators are expected to move into what is one of the final undeveloped structures within RWY.

The Everyman chain shows regular multiplex releases, including blockbusters, bolstered with screenings of theatre shows and gigs, and can showcase special movie events, such as its programme of Christmas flicks.

The company already has 26 cinemas, mainly in London, with the nearest being in Bristol. But the firm is growing at pace and adding new cinemas all the time and is even listed on the Alternative Investment Market.

The brand has been cited as “redefining” cinema by injecting lifestyle elements into film experiences, such as serving pizzas and wines during screenings.

The remaining space within Melville is being marketed, with office units ranging from 300sq ft for smaller entities, through to headquarter-size office space, and Mr Bloxham said there had been “an excellent pipeline of pre-lets”.

In his report Mr Bloxham said: “We continue to progress our plans to complete the development of Royal William Yard in Plymouth and hope to be on site in 2019 at the Melville building which has secured an excellent pipeline of pre-lets including the Everyman Cinema.”

Tom Bloxham, founder and chairman of Urban Splash, at the Royal William Yard

The company submitted outline plans for the tower in March 2019, envisaging 114 “high quality” apartments including 69 one-bed flats, 71 two-bed flats and four three-bed units with a roof garden and lounge.

The plans said the ground floor would feature about 50,000sq ft of commercial space, made up of cafés, restaurants, bars and shops as well as 43 parking spaces in the basement for residents and 108 outdoor spaces for the public.

But work has yet to start on the skyscraper, which is in a poor state of repair, though the company has, when asked by Business Live, confirmed the project is still active.

A spokesperson said it was not in the report because "the planning and work etc has been done this current year" and stressed: "It’s still very much one of our developments."

Mr Bloxham was happy with results he said were “a true reflection of an excellent year”.

Plymouth's derelict Civic Centre was purchased by Urban Splash for £1

He said the firm was confident of further growth, partly due to a move into creating modular housing, but did warn: “We live in very uncertain times both at home and abroad which makes it difficult to plan, particularly when you have big ideas. I can’t predict the future but I do want to help mould the future and I know that people will still be working in well-designed office spaces, that there will be a demand for beautiful loft apartments and that the UK still doesn’t build enough homes to house its growing population and so the future for Urban Splash remains as exciting as ever.”

Urban Splash also highlighted that its results predate and do not include any benefit from the recently announced £90million partnership with Homes England, and Japan’s biggest housebuilder Sekisui House, which will allow the company to upscale its modular production.

During the accounts period Urban Splash did however lay the foundations for its modular growth, acquiring its House factory from SIG PLC in March 2018 and vertically integrating modular operations into its core business.

Mr Bloxham said: “Last year was a period of hard work, ambitious and fast acquisitions – including the vertical integration of our own modular housing facility – and of course much celebration as we marked our silver anniversary.

“Our activity in 2018 laid the foundations for the next period of growth for House, allowing us to vertically integrate all aspects of the delivery of our modular housing and take full control.”

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